Comfy Camera Strap Cover

My friend Deb is a photographer. Well ... maybe not professionally, but she ALWAYS has her Canon Rebel xTi attached to her hip, and is constantly pulling it out to "capture the moment," as they say. She is actually the reason that I opted for the Rebel when I purchased my camera last year.

Anyway ... anyone who owns a Rebel knows that the strap it comes with is super-uncomfortable. Mine is constantly scratching the back of my neck ... so much so that I have stopped putting the strap over my head. One of these days I'm going to drop the thing because I refused to have the strap touching me!

For Deb's birthday recently, I decided to be kind to her neck and make her a camera strap cover. Here it is ...

The padded strap just wraps around the thick portion of the camera strap.
It's quilted and cushy.
I love this blue and green fabric ... I had to buy it and make something out of it!

It's completely reversible ... this side has Deb's name on it. (of course!)

A little close-up.
I love velcro ... makes things SO easy!

A New Spring Project

Last weekend, I took a short trip to Atlanta with the women of the family to celebrate my niece's 4th birthday at the American Girl Store. To conserve gas, I piled into the mom-mobile with my sister-in-law and her mom, along with my niece and a friend of hers. Of course, we had to leave one of the van's seats at home so that we could fit our luggage, complete with all three American Girl dolls (which turned into 5 dolls and a llama on the way home ...). It's a good thing we left room, too, because we also made a stop at the nicest Jo-Ann fabric store I've ever seen while we were in Atlanta. Needless to say, we did some shopping!

Anyway ... you need to know that I get horribly carsick on road-trips ... so much so that I really would much rather take a plane and suffer through connecting flights and layovers and the ears popping and such. I do not enjoy being in the car. But, most of all, I hate that I end up wasting so many hours of precious time just sitting there doing nothing! Reading makes me sick. Sewing makes me sick. Playing games makes me sick. Sometimes having in-depth conversations makes me sick. BUT ... there is ONE thing that I've found does NOT make me sick on road-trips (besides sleeping!) ... crocheting! It's weird, but it's actually kinda soothing for me, as long as the car is on cruise control and we're not in heavy traffic.

SO ... because Atlanta is a 6-hour car ride away, I decided to take along a new crochet project so that I could make the most of my time. I figured if I started it on the trip, I would be able to stretch it out over the whole course of the trip and have a finished product by the time we arrived home on Sunday night. Sure enough ... here are the fruits of my labor ...

Super-fun yarn!

I love the colors ... it's fun to see the mixture of all the different colors,
and how different parts take on different looks.

Here is my project hanging on a hook at home ... I can't wait to wear it!

So, do you know what it is yet?

I'll give you a clue ... even though I started it on the first day of Spring, think WINTER! :o)

(This is me doing my best to model it without getting in the way of the picture ... apparently, I had trouble getting it just right, but you get the idea!)

It's a fun ruffle scarf!
My friend Andrea got one of these for Christmas from a co-worker, and I asked her to hunt down the pattern for me. I love how girly it is.
And it's so stinkin' easy to make! Hmmm ... these would make great gifts!

My next project ... a fun jacket.
This might be a little ambitious, but I'm going to try it anyway.
Why not, right?

Ladybugs for the Little Lady

My oldest niece turns 4 today. I can hardly believe it. It seems like just yesterday we were waiting outside the hospital room for her arrival! Time sure does fly right by, doesn't it?

In celebration of Anneliese's birthday, I told her that I would take her to the fabric store so that she could pick out some fabric for a new dress for her and her American Girl doll. She eventually saw a purple fabric and said "Auntie Sara, that purple fabric is BEAUTIFUL!" I figured with that kind of enthusiasm, we had a winner!

So, yesterday, I set to work making her dresses, so that they would be ready for her birthday celebration tonight. (There's nothing like waiting until the last minute, right?)

Disclaimer : Please forgive my pictures ... I took them last night, and the lighting wasn't great in this corner of my studio. Also, I was having trouble coming up with a creative place to hang the dresses, and in the end the thread racks won out. Ugly, I know ... but I was tired and my head hurt. Sorry.

I got the pattern for the dress from Suzanne ... it's a completely reversible A-Line. Really simple to put together ... only took me a couple of hours (that is, if I don't count the 3 - yes THREE - times I had to sew the buttons on, because I kept doing them wrong! Don't ask.)

Don't you just love the matching doll dress? It's so cute!

I *had* to include a close-up of this adorable fabric ... LOVE the green ladybugs.

I added a little green ladybug to the hem of the purple side, just to give it more character.
Suzanne reminded me that I always draw ladybugs with Anneliese when we color together (probably because I stink at drawing, and they are one of the few things that are simple enough to be recognizable when I draw them!)

Happy Birthday, Anneliese! Yay for being 4!